Reds could turn Eugenio Suárez’s down-year into an offseason steal

On the baseball field things haven't gone right for Eugenio Suárez. Off the field, 2026 has been a great year for the Cincinnati Reds star. But shifting the focus back to baseball, it has to be a frustrating time for Suárez.

At last year's trade deadline, he was on a home run rampage and looked like one of the premier bats on the market. Then he was dealt to the Seattle Mariners, where right-handed power goes to die, and hit just .189/.255/.428 following the trade. Geno redeemed himself somewhat with some heroic moments in the 2025 postseason, but ultimately it was a disappointing turn for the once-fearsome slugger.

While spring training is not the end-all, be-all, Suárez slashed just .182/.333/.318 in warm-up period in his return to Cincinnati. Again, though, when the lights were the brightest, Geno shined, delivering the World Baseball Classic-winning hit for Team Venezuela.

Still, with him hitting .206/.298/.410 at the age of 35, it's fair to wonder if he's run out of gas. Father Time comes for us all, and the prolonged nature of this decline could indicate that Suárez is firmly in a decline phase.

While that could be true, there's also a chance that something else is going on. The Reds might be wise to gamble again on Suárez in 2027.

The free agent market could make re-signing Eugenio Suarez a top priority for the Reds

Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) took a look at the top players in the upcoming free-agent class, and it's pretty slim pickings. Of the top 15 position players, there are very few stars. Many are coming off down years as well.

Suárez doesn't appear in Bowden's top-15, and the player on the list who is most comparable to him on the list is Philadelphia Phillies corner infielder Alec Bohm. Bohm has never reached the heights that Geno has in his career, and his .690 OPS is a good deal behind the .708 mark that the Reds star has put up.

Bohm isn't a good defender, either, so the only true advantage that he has over Suárez is that he's younger. He'll get paid, but Geno might still be the better player even though he's flying under the radar.

There's also some reason for optimism that this isn't age-related decline and Suárez is actually bouncing back. In August, he posted a .227/.364/.489 line with six homers. If you prefer a larger sample, since July 1, he's hitting .208/.322/.457 with 12 dingers over 205 plate appearances.

He's never going to be a batting champ, but you employ Suarez for his power. That was something that was mostly absent early on. From Opening Day through June 30, he slashed .205/.276/.370 over 221 plate appearances. His ISO over that span was just .165 versus a .249 mark from July 1 onward, and a career mark of .217.

It's been easy to miss, but since July 1, Geno has looked a lot more like his old self and that's something that can't be dismissed.

Then there's those clutch moments. There's value to that, especially on a young team that needs to learn how to win. Suárez has that clutch gene, which when combined with his sunny disposition, wealth of experience, backstory as overlooked prospect, and leadership capabilities make him valuable in an intangible way.

There are plenty of reasons to keep Suárez around, but maybe not at the $16 million mutual option figure. The Reds can decline that option with no buyout, and then could probably bring the slugger back on a much cheaper deal. He'll be overlooked on the free-agent market, and if Cincinnati can bring him back for between $5-7 million, they absolutely should.

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